Tag Archives: Jessica de Haas

Making a flower out of felted wool fiber is a simple art process that I learned during a workshop with Jessica de Haas, Canadian clothing designer, at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca. No one else wanted to cut into their handmade felt cloth, but I took scissors in hand and cut away. Here was my reward!

1. First, I made a paper pattern. I cut four circles. Circle 1 is 6″ in diameter. Circle 2 is 5″ in diameter. Circle 3 is 4″ in diameter. Circle 4 is 3″ in diameter.

2. Then, I pinned each circle to the felt and cut.

3. Starting with the largest circle, fold it in half and cut into the fold about 1/2″ on both sides. Fold it in half the other way and make another cut about 1/2″ on both sides. Keep doing this until you end up with 16 “petals.” Trim each of the petals so that they look like a petal!

4. Continue the same process with each of the remaining circles.

Flat felted wool flower before sewn together and scrunched. My petals are misshapen because the scissors wasn't very sharp! Get a sharp scissors.

5. Stack the circles on top of each other, largest one on the bottom, smallest one on top.

6. With needle and thread, sew the layers together in the center.

7. Cut a 1″ to 1-1/2″ circle and place it in the center of the flower and sew it on, leaving an opening big enough to stuff tiny wool scraps into the center to look like a button. (Did you know the center of a flower is called a stigma and in Spanish it’s Corolla?)

8. Squeeze the flower from bottom so that the petals form a distinctive shape.

I made my flower when it was damp, so when I squeezed, it crunched up and took a 3-dimensional shape instead of a flat pancake (as shown above). If you like, you can wet it completely in hot water, squeeze the water out gently with two hands, and then squeeze to shape. Let air dry in the sun or on top of a clothes dryer.

9. Sew to a hat or pin on a jacket or make a choker necklace out of it.

Textiles and fiber arts are the primary reason I landed in Oaxaca. It started years ago when I learned to weave in San Francisco, California. Now that I am here in Mexico almost full-time, I get to take advantage of the great workshops at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca organized by education director Eric Chavez Santiago.

Yesterday was a felting workshop taught by Canadian designer and artist Jessica de Haas. She makes incredible felted clothing. Our task was to felt a piece of fabric and make a flower. I was the only one with guts enough to cut into the felt I made. The result, two flowers to adorn a hat or collar or whatever!

Jessica studied batik in Indonesia and has won numerous awards. She is in Oaxaca for an artists residency sponsored by Foundation Archetopia. She will have a show of her work at the textile museum on April 13, 6 pm. She may even be convinced to sell some pieces!

Felting wool is an ancient process that began in Mongolia. With a slide presentation to start, Jessica showed us the yurts, clothing, and blankets for humans and animals that originated there. She then showed us examples of her stunning work. Jessica has a retail store, Funk Shui in Vancouver, BC where she sells felted clothing and shibori.

I’ll be posting more about the felt making process as soon as I can get back to my computer keyboard!

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